Momma Kath,

I am writing because my DH and I
have been TTC for just about a year
and a half, and just found out some
important information. My husband has been on
high blood pressure medicine for 5 years--
since he was 35. His type of medicine
is a calcium channel blocker.
Well, searching the Web for infertility info
the other day, I stumbled upon an article
that suggested that 95% of men on this
type of med are rendered infertile!
The good news is that the infertility
is reversible after 3 months off the drug.

We've been to 2 REs and one uroligist,
and not one of these doctors knew of
this med side effect .

Of course we are hoping this has been our problem.
My husband is calling his dr. tomorrow
to get switched to another form
of high blood pressure med.

I wanted to write you to ask how
best to get the word out to others.
It is true that most men who take high blood pressure meds,
do so after age 40, when many are finished creating
their families. But I'm sure that there is a
significant community of people out there
who may be helped by this info.

Check this good article on this problem.

Thank you for listening, and for any suggestions you may have
on getting the word out!!!

CarolMc

I just wanted to add my 2 cents
to the "Husband on high blood pressure medication?"

My dh is on the medications -
in fact in February I had his hair analyzed
to find out what vitamins and minerals he needed
and that same month he went off one of them altogether.
That's the month I conceived Arielle.
I believe there is some truth to it -
however we did conceive Arielle the same day
he went off Cardura and started the mineral therapy!
Funny it all happened when I ovulated and I wasn't
expecting to conceive that month.
Now he's only taking Zestril -
and is working on loosing weight to go off that too!

LoriR/LAR

Here is some information compiled by Sunny.
Do not go over the recommended amounts of vitamins,
as this can have a negative impact on health.
My husband takes a "male multi-vitamin"
which has 50mcg of zinc and 200mcg of selenium.
Additionally, he takes 1000mg of vitamin C, and 300IU of vitamin E.
We have seen a slight improvement in motility, but no improvement in sperm count.

Vitamin and Herb therapy

This is a link to a
male reproductive health center.
I can't stress enough how important it is to have a bad SA re-checked by a clinic
specializing in male infertility. If initial results are poor, retest in three months,
BUT ask your doctor for a referral to a urologist that specializes in male infertility.
I would caution the use of clomid for male infertility.
If your husband's doctor recommends this, get a second opinion!!
Also, make sure that he has his testosterone levels checked.
While marginal improvements have been seen in men who use clomid,
success is largely dependent on having a lower than normal testosterone level.
Also, the use of clomid for men is rarely covered by insurance, so best to be sure
that it will have a good chance of helping him before you use it. Finally, it's
important to note that clomid will only help overall sperm count, not quality.

This link deals with a
variety of treatments
that are available to for couples with male factor infertility.
We commonly think that the only hope is in vitro fertilization.
This is not necessarily the case!
Intra uterine insemination may be enough to give the sperm a "boost"
in the right direction. In some cases, a vericocele may be the cause
of motility problems. This is something that is confirmed with an ultrasound,
and can be treated with surgery. I'd like to point out that although my husband
has a vericocele, we opted not to have the surgery. His vericocele was the result
of a hernia surgery which caused a great deal of trauma to his testicles.

He can not face another surgery!
We opted for another method to achieve pregnancy:
donor sperm
This is a link to a Twin Cities sperm bank.
Although this option is not for everyone,
it's the route we have decided to take.
It achieves our family goals in the time frame that we want,
which was a big consideration for us.

Remember:
It takes 90 days for the process of spermatogenesis to take place.
Therefore, if you start taking vitamins and herbs to improve sperm quality,
wait three months before being retested.

Posted By: CherylB
Monday, 8 May 2000, at 6:47 p.m.
My husband had surgery for a vericocele in December.
It didn't help us, but we had a zero count, so the doc told
us going in it may not make a difference.
I DO recommend doing the surgery however, cause it just
eliminates one more obstacle and in many cases
it does make a difference. In fact, the DR we are seeing in
NYC next year, Dr Marc Goldstein
(one of the best in the country)
has his patients have the surgery
before he proceeds with anything else,
if there is a chance it can help. ChristineM's
DH is also having the surgery on May 19th,
so you may want to post to her.
Their situation is one with a low count,
so more similar to yours.
Best of luck whatever you decide,
CherylB